Testing The Limits, LulzSec Takes Down CIA's Website

The hacker group LulzSec seems determined to make as many powerful enemies as possible. Its latest target: the Central Intelligence Agency.

The hyperactive hacker team took down CIA.gov Wednesday evening, seemingly with a denial of service attack. "Tango down - cia.gov - for the lulz," the group wrote matter-of-factly on its twitter feed.

The CIA takedown is only the latest fed-baiting from the group, whose targets have also included the Senate--LulzSec stole a tranche of internal files from a Senate server earlier this week "just for kicks"--and an FBI affiliate known as Infragard. The Senate has responded by calling for a security audit of its systems.

Other targets have included PBS, Sony, the security firm Unveillance, and more than 50 porn sites, all of whom have had private data posted as trophies to the group's website, LulzSecurity.com.

A denial of service attack by comparison, which blocks access to a website but doesn't steal data, hardly poses a serious threat to the intelligence agency beyond embarassment.

But the CIA attack has already inspired at least one threat of retaliation. Another hacker known as th3j35t3r, who has previously sided with the U.S. military against online extremist groups, promised in his twitter feed to strike back at LulzSec. "re: your last hit. Gloves off. Expect me," he wrote.

LulzSec hasn't revealed much about exactly how it remains anonymous while pulling off such provocative hacks. Whatever proxy servers or VPNs it's using to covering its tracks, hacking targets like the Senate and the CIA will certainly put those safeguards to the test.